Cross-examination of Natalie Singer

📄 Cross-examination of Natalie Singer — Tuesday, September 5, 1995

Address:

C:\DEPT103\CRIMINAL\1995\SEP\5\CROSS-EXAMINATION-OF-NATALIE-S.DOC

TRIAL

▲ Day 147 of 167

◀ Direct examination of Natalie Singer Redirect examination of Natalie Singer ▶

Witness: Natalie Singer
Examiner: Marcia Clark
Called by: Defense • Date: Tuesday, September 5, 1995 • Utterances: 98

Marcia Clark cross-examines Natalie Singer, a witness who testified that she heard Mark Fuhrman use a racial epithet at her apartment. Clark focuses on establishing Singer's exclusive contact with the defense (F. Lee Bailey flew to Nashville to interview her, met with her approximately five times), and then probes the circumstances of Singer's final confrontation with Fuhrman — when she called him an asshole and told him he was no longer welcome — suggesting Singer had deliberately chosen that moment as her opportunity to remove him.

# 1 THE COURT:

Miss Clark.

# 2 (Discussion held off the record between the Deputy District Attorneys.)

# 3 MS. CLARK:

Thank you, your Honor.

CROSS-EXAMINATION BY MS. CLARK

# 4 MS. CLARK:

Good morning, Miss Singer.

# 5 MS. SINGER:

Good morning.

# 6 MS. CLARK:

Did Mr. Bailey fly out to Nashville, Tennessee, to interview you?

# 7 MS. SINGER:

Yes, he did.

# 8 MS. CLARK:

That is--

# 9 THE COURT:

Miss Clark, could you keep your voice up, please.

# 10 MS. CLARK:

I'm sorry.

# 11 MS. CLARK:

That is where you spoke to him?

# 12 MS. SINGER:

Yes.

# 13 MS. CLARK:

Okay. Now, you have never spoken to myself or Mr. Darden or Miss Lewis?

# 14 MS. SINGER:

No, I haven't.

# 15 MS. CLARK:

You have never spoken to any of the Prosecutors in this case; is that correct?

# 16 MS. SINGER:

No, I haven't. Yes, that's correct.

# 17 MS. CLARK:

And you spoke to--did you ever call any member of the Prosecution team to advise them personally of who your lawyer was?

# 18 MS. SINGER:

No.

# 19 MS. CLARK:

You spoke to--you spoke to Mr. Bailey; is that correct, back in May of this year?

# 20 MS. SINGER:

Are you referring to the meeting in Nashville?

# 21 MS. CLARK:

Yes.

# 22 MS. SINGER:

Yes.

# 23 MS. CLARK:

Okay. And how many times have you spoken to Mr. Bailey?

# 24 MS. SINGER:

You will have to give me a minute on that. It has to be an approximate and it would be approximately five.

# 25 MS. CLARK:

Five times?

# 26 MS. SINGER:

Right. And those are not in person all of them.

# 27 MS. CLARK:

Okay. Some were on the phone?

# 28 (No audible response.)

# 29 MS. CLARK:

Some were on the phone?

# 30 MS. SINGER:

Yes.

# 31 MS. CLARK:

And of those five times how many times did you meet with him in Nashville?

# 32 MS. SINGER:

Oh, one.

# 33 MS. CLARK:

That is once?

# 34 MS. SINGER:

Uh-huh.

# 35 MS. CLARK:

Okay. Was that yes?

# 36 MS. SINGER:

Yes, I'm sorry.

# 37 MS. CLARK:

That is all right. And the other times you met with him, was that in Los Angeles, the times that they were in person?

# 38 MS. SINGER:

Yes. Can I keep going?

# 39 MS. CLARK:

No.

# 40 MS. SINGER:

Two more times. Once last week, once today.

# 41 MS. CLARK:

Okay. That was both in person here in Los Angeles?

# 42 MS. SINGER:

Yes.

# 43 MS. CLARK:

And they flew you out here from Nashville?

# 44 MS. SINGER:

Yes.

# 45 MS. CLARK:

You are staying in a hotel?

# 46 MS. SINGER:

No.

# 47 MS. CLARK:

You are staying with someone?

# 48 MS. SINGER:

I am staying with a friend.

# 49 MS. CLARK:

Okay. Now, after the occasion in which you heard Mark Fuhrman use that epithet--I'm sorry--this is not a great day for me--

# 50 MS. SINGER:

Yeah.

# 51 MS. CLARK:

--speaking wise. Excuse me. After you heard Mark Fuhrman use the racial epithet on that occasion in your apartment, you indicated that you were very shocked and you were very offended, correct?

# 52 MS. SINGER:

Yes.

# 53 MS. CLARK:

And it even made you feel nauseous, correct?

# 54 MS. SINGER:

Yes, uh-huh.

# 55 MS. CLARK:

And after that occasion he came to the apartment when you were there on three or four occasions you estimate, correct?

# 56 MS. SINGER:

That I saw him, yes.

# 57 MS. CLARK:

But you were aware that he came on other occasions to the apartment when you were not there, correct?

# 58 MS. SINGER:

Correct.

# 59 MS. CLARK:

And then on the last occasion that you saw him there, it was on that occasion that he said "Fucking bitch," correct? Did he do--

# 60 (No audible response.)

# 61 MS. CLARK:

Was that yes?

# 62 MS. SINGER:

Yes.

# 63 MS. CLARK:

Did he direct that to you or to his partner?

# 64 MS. SINGER:

Oh, he was speaking to his partner, referring to me.

# 65 MS. CLARK:

Okay. Okay. You felt he was referring to you when he said that?

# 66 MS. SINGER:

Oh, he was.

# 67 MS. CLARK:

Okay.

# 68 MS. SINGER:

Yeah.

# 69 MS. CLARK:

And that was based on what--was he looking at you when he said it or had he looked at you and then turned to his partner and said that?

# 70 MS. SINGER:

Umm, it was based on the fact that I had just looked out the window and said, "Tom, hi Tom, hi you guys," got a look, then he started immediately talking. And the reason I'm not going into specifically what he was saying is because I don't remember specifically what he said previous to the curse, and then he called--she is just a blah, blah, blah.

# 71 MS. CLARK:

Uh-huh. Okay. You were the only woman in sight?

# 72 MS. SINGER:

Yeah.

# 73 MS. CLARK:

Okay.

# 74 MS. SINGER:

I was.

# 75 MS. CLARK:

All right. And then that made you angry?

# 76 MS. SINGER:

No, it actually didn't.

# 77 MS. CLARK:

You called him an asshole?

# 78 MS. SINGER:

Yeah, I think--can I go on?

# 79 MS. CLARK:

Did you call him an asshole?

# 80 MS. SINGER:

Yes.

# 81 MS. CLARK:

You did not mean it as a term of endearment I take it?

KEY QUOTE

# 82 MS. SINGER:

No, no. Normally I don't use that word as a term of endearment.

# 83 MS. CLARK:

All right. Most of us don't. Okay. At that point you told him you are not welcome here; is that right?

# 84 MS. SINGER:

Yes.

# 85 MS. CLARK:

This was your opportunity at that point when he called you--

# 86 MS. SINGER:

Uh-huh.

# 87 MS. CLARK:

--when he called you that, this was your opportunity to make sure he couldn't come back; is that right?

# 88 MS. SINGER:

Umm--

# 89 MS. CLARK:

As you have testified on direct examination?

# 90 MS. SINGER:

Yes, to make sure--yes, we didn't want him there and I certainly didn't want him there and that--yes, this was an opportunity to have him out.

# 91 MS. CLARK:

Okay. Then this was the opportunity you chose to make sure he wouldn't come back?

# 92 MS. SINGER:

Yes. Unfortunately it was the opportunity I finally chose instead of telling him the truth.

KEY QUOTE

# 93 MS. CLARK:

But that was the one you did choose, correct?

# 94 MS. SINGER:

Uh-huh.

# 95 MS. CLARK:

Yes?

# 96 MS. SINGER:

Yes.

# 97 (Discussion held off the record between the Deputy District Attorneys.)

# 98 MS. CLARK:

Thank you, Miss Singer. Nothing further.

Temperature

procedural

Key Quotes (4)

Natalie Singer

Unfortunately it was the opportunity I finally chose instead of telling him the truth.

Singer volunteers that she had missed prior opportunities to confront Fuhrman — an admission that undercuts the spontaneity and credibility of her account.

Marcia Clark

You did not mean it as a term of endearment I take it?

Rare moment of dry courtroom humor; Clark uses it to keep the cross light while confirming Singer was genuinely hostile toward Fuhrman.

Natalie Singer

I was staying with a friend.

Establishes Singer was not being housed by the defense in a hotel, undercutting a potential bias argument about financial incentive.

Natalie Singer

She is just a blah, blah, blah.

Singer's reconstruction of Fuhrman's muttered comment to his partner — she cannot recall the exact words preceding the slur, which mildly weakens precision of her account.

Notable Exchanges (2)

Marcia Clark•Natalie Singer

Clark establishes Singer had contact exclusively with the defense — Bailey flew to Nashville, met with her five times total, flew her to LA — while Singer never contacted or spoke to any prosecutor.

strategic

Marcia Clark•Natalie Singer

Clark pins Singer down on the 'fucking bitch' incident as the deliberate moment she chose to eject Fuhrman, and Singer concedes she had other opportunities she passed up.

revealing

Light Moments (2)

Marcia Clark

Clark self-deprecatingly apologizes mid-question: 'this is not a great day for me — speaking wise.'

Marcia Clark

After confirming Singer called Fuhrman an asshole, Clark quips: 'You did not mean it as a term of endearment I take it?' Singer replies: 'No, no. Normally I don't use that word as a term of endearment.' Clark: 'Most of us don't.'

Credibility Attacks (2)

⚔ Natalie Singer

bias — exclusive contact with defense

Clark establishes that Singer never contacted the prosecution, while Bailey personally flew to Nashville to interview her and subsequently met with her four more times, suggesting she is a cultivated defense witness.

⚔ Natalie Singer

prior opportunity / delayed action

Clark elicits that Singer tolerated Fuhrman's presence for multiple visits after hearing the racial epithet, and chose only the 'fucking bitch' incident as her moment to act — implying she selected the most damaging incident to build her story around.

Witness Demeanor

Singer gives meandering, self-correcting answers and frequently asks if she can continue or elaborate.

Singer is cooperative and non-confrontational toward Clark; no visible hostility.

Singer volunteers unfavorable information ('Unfortunately it was the opportunity I finally chose') without being pushed.

Objections

None recorded

Proceeding 7503 • 98 utterances • Defense witness

Criminal Trial

Department 103